Intraoral scanner with reconfigurable buttons

Abstract

An intraoral scanner comprises one or more reconfigurable buttons, a display configured to display at least one of one or more icons or one or more texts associated with the one or more reconfigurable buttons, one or more cameras configured to capture intraoral scan data of at least a part of a dental arch, and a communication module configured to transmit the intraoral scan data to a first computing device.

1 . An intraoral scanning system comprising:
 an intraoral scanner comprising:
 one or more reconfigurable buttons; 
 a display configured to display at least one of one or more icons or one or more texts associated with the one or more reconfigurable buttons; 
 one or more cameras configured to capture intraoral scan data of at least a part of a dental arch; and 
 a communication module configured to transmit the intraoral scan data to a first computing device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the intraoral scanner further comprises:
 one or more light projectors configured to generate a light pattern to be projected onto at least the part of the dental arch during an intraoral scanning session;   wherein the one or more cameras are configured to capture the intraoral scan data in response to illuminating at least the part of the dental arch using the one or more light projectors, wherein the intraoral scan data comprises one or more two-dimensional (2D) images.   
     
     
         3 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 the first computing device, configured to:
 receive the intraoral scan data from the intraoral scanner; and 
 generate a digital 3D model of at least part of the 3D dental object based on the intraoral scan data. 
   
     
     
         4 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 3 , wherein the first computing device is further configured to:
 generate a plurality of 2D images of the digital 3D model; and   transmit the plurality of 2D images to a second computing device.   
     
     
         5 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 the second computing device, configured to:
 receive the plurality of 2D images; and 
 output the plurality of 2D images to a display associated with the second computing device. 
   
     
     
         6 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the intraoral scanner is configured to receive an input from the first computing device indicating a current mode of an intraoral scan application; and   reconfigure the one or more reconfigurable buttons based at least in part on the current mode of the intraoral scan application.   
     
     
         7 . The intraoral scanner of  claim 6 , wherein while the current mode is a scanning mode, the one or more reconfigurable buttons comprise at least one of a next segment button or a previous segment button. 
     
     
         8 . The intraoral scanner of  claim 6 , wherein while the current mode is a scanning mode, the one or more reconfigurable buttons comprise at least one of a lower dental arch segment button, an upper dental arch segment button, or a bite segment button. 
     
     
         9 . The intraoral scanner of  claim 6 , wherein while the current mode is a three-dimensional surface viewing mode, the one or more reconfigurable buttons comprise at least one of a rotate button, a pan button, or a zoom button. 
     
     
         10 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 3 , wherein the display is configured to output at least one of an icon or text responsive to receipt of a confirmation request message from the first computing device, wherein at least one of the icon or text is for at least one of a confirm button or a cancel button. 
     
     
         11 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the intraoral scanner is further configured to change an associated action of the one or more reconfigurable buttons based on a progress or step of an intraoral scanning session. 
     
     
         12 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the intraoral scanner is further configured to change an associated action of the one or more reconfigurable buttons based on a user selection among at least one of the one or more icons or the one or more texts. 
     
     
         13 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the intraoral scanner is further configured to change an icon or text associated with a given reconfigurable button based on a progress or step of an intraoral scanning session. 
     
     
         14 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the intraoral scanner is further configured to change an icon or text associated with a given reconfigurable button based on a user selection among at least one of the one or more icons or the one or more texts. 
     
     
         15 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the display is configured to display a visualization of a dental arch during a scanning session. 
     
     
         16 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the intraoral scanner is further configured to reconfigure the one or more reconfigurable buttons into a new purpose depending on a progress or step of a scanning session. 
     
     
         17 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the intraoral scanner is further configured to reconfigure the one or more reconfigurable buttons into a new purpose depending on a user activation of the one or more reconfigurable buttons. 
     
     
         18 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 1 , wherein the display comprises a touchscreen. 
     
     
         19 . The intraoral scanning system of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more reconfigurable buttons comprise a plurality of virtual buttons displayed by the touchscreen. 
     
     
         20 . An intraoral scanner comprising:
 one or more reconfigurable buttons;   a display configured to display one or more icons or texts associated with the one or more reconfigurable buttons;   one or more light projectors configured to generate a light pattern to be projected onto a three-dimensional (3D) dental object during an intraoral scanning session; and   one or more cameras configured to capture intraoral scan data of the 3D dental object in response to illuminating said 3D dental object using the one or more light projectors; and   a communication module configured to transmit the intraoral scan data to a computing device.